Bridgestone/Firestone gets pact

Union workers in Iowa, Indiana ratify labor contracts

By

MichaelBaron

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) – The majority of union workers at Bridgestone/Firestone plants in Iowa and Indiana have voted to accept a three-year labor contract, according to published reports.

Workers at the tiremaker's Des Moines plant voted 646-183 for the contract Friday night, which means the national agreement is ratified even if workers at a Noblesville, Ind., plant reject it when they vote next Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier Friday, Decatur, Ill., workers voted 888-127 in favor, joining workers at three other plants who approved the contract this week.

The vote means that a majority of 7,200 employees at seven U.S. factories have given the agreement a stamp of approval.

Bridgestone/Firestone has said that many of the tires being recalled for safety deficiencies were manufactured at the plant in Decatur, Ill.

The federal government is investigating 88 deaths and over 250 crashes involving Firestone tires. The problems occurred in mostly in Ford (F) Explorers and small trucks.

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